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Zam (Zām) is the Avestan language term for the Zoroastrian concept of "earth", in both the sense of land and soil and in the sense of the world. The earth is prototyped as a primordial element in Zoroastrian tradition, and represented by a minor divinity Zam who is the hypostasis of the "earth". The word itself is cognate to the Baltic 'Zemes' and Slavic 'Zem', both meaning the planet earth as well as soil. The element ''zam'' exists with the same meaning in Middle Persian, which is the language of the texts of Zoroastrian tradition. The divinity Zam however appears in the later language as Zamyad, which is a contraction of "Zam Yazad", i.e. the yazata Zam. Zam of the earth is not related to the Zam of the Shahnameh. That Zam—''Zahhak-e-Maar-Doosh'' (''Aži Dahāka'' in Avestan, ''Azhdshak'' in Middle Persian)—is the king of dragons that slew Jamshid. ==In scripture== The element ''zam'' is the domain of the Armaiti, the Amesha Spenta of the earth and one of the Ahura Mazda's primodial 'divine sparks' from whom all other creation originates. It is through the earth that Armaiti is immanent. This close identification of the element ''zam'' with Armaiti also causes the divinity Zam to paired with Armaiti, to the extent that in some verses Armaiti appears where "earth" is expected.〔''cf.'' .〕 The rare ''dvandvah'' expression Zam-Armaiti occurs in ''Yasht'' 1.16, 16.6 and 42.3. The ''Zamyad Yasht'', the Avesta's hym nominally devoted to Zam, has little to do with "earth": The first eight chapters of that hymn simply enumerate geographical landmarks, while the rest of the hymn is in praise of those who possess ''kavaem khareno'' "royal glory". These remaining verses begin with the creation of the earth, that is with a verse to Ahura Mazda (chapter 10), and closes with a verse to the Saoshyant (89). In between, it contains verses invoking the Amesha Spenta (15), Mithra (35). Mortals invoked include Yima (31), Thraetaona (36), the Kayanian dynasts (66-72), Zarathushtra (79) and Vishtaspa (84). According to Darmesteter, "this Yasht would serve as a short history of the Iranian monarchy, an abridged (in a direct quote! -->Shahnameh )."〔.〕 The ''Zamyad Yasht'' has been considered to be an example of a simple concept being elevated to the rank of an angel.〔.〕 For Zam, this probably occurred as a linguistic conciliation between Zam and Armaiti. But notwithstanding the dedication of the 28th day of the month and the manifestation as one of the primordial elements, Zam is not a particularly significant divinity. Dhalla goes so far as to say "her personality is very insipid as compared with Armaiti, who, as we have seen, has the earth under her care and is, in fact, a more active guardian genius."〔.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Zam」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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